Arcadia Ghoul
by STARK1LLR
Summary: One month ago Arcadia Bay was exposed to the dangers of ghouls, many lives were lost that fateful night one of those lives were 19 year old Chloe Price. Max Caulfield, Chloe's childhood friend carries the weight of her lost everyday, until a new student transfers to Blackwell. Will this student hep or just add more pain to Max's life?
1. Chapter I

**A/N**

 **Thank you guys for the support! I decided to rewrite the first chapter and actually try to make this a full story. It was something that I dreamt and so I decided that I needed to see what happens.**

 **Chapter I: A New Hope**

Ghouls, humanoid creatures that survive by consuming the flesh of human beings. They have always been a concern, especially in Tokyo, Japan. They never seemed to be a problem in America, until one month ago, the war between ghouls and humans made its way to Arcadia Bay. The small town suffered many losses because of the sudden ghoul attack, one of the casualties was 19 year old Chloe Price, Chloe had been killed by a ghoul named Mark Jefferson. Jefferson had also taught at the local prestigious school, Blackwell Academy, it is believed he used the ruse of being a teacher to kill and consume both Chloe and another Blackwell student named Rachel Amber. After the attack the American government decided to fall in the footsteps of Tokyo and form the CCG (Commission of Counter Ghoul) with David Madsen, stepfather of one of Mark Jefferson's victims. With Madsen's military background he became a top investigator and now leads the CCG branch in Arcadia Bay.

 **November, 2013**

Max Caulfield woke up to the sound of her alarm going off, early in the morning. "Do I really need to go to class?" Max thought as she begrudgingly got up from the warmth and comfort of her dorm room bed. Max is of average height of 5'5, she is slender and has short shoulder length brown hair, she has blue eyes, and freckles on the upper part of her nose and both cheeks.

She does a little stretch to help mentally prepare her for her daily classes and checks her phone for any messages, in which she has two.

"Hey, Max! Me and Brooke and heading to Two Whales after school, you down or what?" Her friend Warren messaged

"You know I don't like being the third wheel, Warren. But I could definitely eat a burger, I'll let you know." She responded

"Hey, Max! You're not going to miss our tea session this weekend, are you?" Max's friend Kate messaged

"Of course not, Kate! I definitely could use a "bitch about life session"!" She replied

She got up from her bed after wasting a few more minutes to contemplate and grabbed her shower supplies and headed for the showers. Blackwell is a prestigious schools for gifted students, so the students sleep in dormitories rather than going home and so each dormitory floor has its own shower.

"Hey, Mad Max." A familiar female voice called as Max closed the door to her dorm room, Max turned towards the voice and was welcomed to the sight of a smiling Victoria. Victoria is about 2 inches taller than Max, she has short blonde hair, and is a member of one of the richer families in Arcadia Bay, she and Max used to be enemies until Max had saved her from becoming the ghoul, Mark Jefferson's third victim.

Oh! Hey Victoria." Max said as she returned the smile

"Did you hear about the new transfer student?"

"Transfer student?" Max replied with a confused look

"Yeah, apparently he's from Tokyo."

"No, this is the first time I'm hearing about a transfer student."

"Well, Juliet did some digging, and he's just like you, Max."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, he's really shy. Juliet tried talking to him, y'know to welcome him and he got really shy. I think he would be perfect for you."

"Thanks, Victoria." Max said sarcastically

"I'm just saying, Max. Plus, Juliet says he's really cute."

"Well, I have to go shower before class, I'll see you later."

"Alright, and make sure you wear something cute, you have to make his head turn."

Max just let out an awkward chuckle and made her way to the showers as Victoria headed back into her dorm.

The shower room is rather small, with only four showers and sinks. She got undressed and went into one of the open showers.

"I wonder if Victoria was serious when she said that the new guy would be perfect for me…" Max thought to herself "Guess I'll just have to wait and see for myself…" Max finished her shower and threw a tower around her and made her way back to her dorm.

"Let's see." Max said as she opened her closet and went through her clothes, which mainly consisted of t shirts and jeans "I know me and Victoria went shopping and I was able to get some really cute outfits, but I can't help but want to wear my usual t shirt and jean combo." Max picked out a pink t shirt with the word love on it, and a dear on the right side, both shaded in white. She then grabbed a pair of slim fit blue jeans, and got dressed. She then grabbed her grey zip up sweater and threw it on before she headed out the door.

 **Photography class**

Usually Max was the first one to arrive in class, but not today. Once she entered the photo filled room, she saw the new teacher, Mrs. Johnson, the new photography teacher who took over after the Mark Jefferson incident talking to who Max assumed to be the new guy. The new guy looked to be an inch taller than Max, he had short black hair, he was wearing black jeans, with black running shoes, a white dress shirt, buttoned to the collar, and a green zip up hoodie.

"Good morning, Mrs. Johnson." Max said with a smile as she took her headphones out her ear

"Ah, good morning, Max. You're just in time." Mrs. Johnson replied with a soft smile "This is the new transfer student, his name is Ken Kaneki, he'll be sitting next to you, is that alright with you?"

"Of course."

"Great! Now Kaneki, if you have any questions just ask Max. She's one of Blackwell's star photographers" Mrs. Johnson said which made Max blush a bit. "Now why don't you two go take your seats and get to know each other."

Kaneki followed Max to a table near the back and took the seat next to her, the room was filled with silence as Kaneki took out a notebook and pencil to take notes with

"So, where are you from?" Max asked trying to break the ice

"Tokyo, Japan." Kaneki said in a soft, shy voice.

"And you speak perfect English? Did you learn before coming to America?"

"Yeah, I didn't want to move to a new country without knowing how to speak its language, it was easier to learn than I thought it would be."

After that a silence fell between the two as they still had 15 minutes before class would officially start

"So you're a star photographer?" Kaneki asked with a smile

"I wouldn't say a "star" but I guess I'm pretty good."

"Don't let her modesty fool you, Ken. She's brilliant with her photography." Mrs. Johnson said from her desk, which once again made Max blush.

"You know, hearing someone call me Ken feels weird."

"Why?" Max said giving Kaneki a questioning look

"Well, usually everyone would just call me Kaneki."

"Kaneki? They would call you by your last name?"

"Yeah, I know it sounds weird." Kaneki replied as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head

"N-No, it's nice. I like that name, Kaneki."

Just then the rest of the students began the flood into the classroom and take their seats, Victoria walked in and saw Max sitting next to the new guy and a smile grew on her face

"I see you took my advice, Max." Victoria said with a teasing smile "I was gonna grab him up if you didn't."

Kaneki looked at the two girls' interaction with a confused look on his face "What does she mean?" He asked the blushing teen

"I-I don't know, she always says random stuff."

"Alright, students. Settle down. Now, we have a lot of stuff to cover for today, but before that let's let the new student introduce himself. Kaneki, if you'd please."

Kaneki walked up to the front of the classroom and suddenly all eyes fell onto him "W-Well my name is Ken Kaneki, but you can just call me Kaneki, I'm from Tokyo, Japan and I love to read."

"Do you have any experience in photography?"

"W-Well no, not really."

"Then it's a good thing you have already befriended Max." Mrs. Johnson said with a smile as she motioned towards Max "Thank you, Kaneki

Kaneki went back to his seat and Mrs. Johnson began to go over the lesson. Throughout the lesson Max found herself unable to look away from Kaneki, she didn't know what it was about the new guy, but she couldn't help but look as he tried to keep up with the lessons even though he wasn't familiar with photography.

"Wowsers…. He is really cute." Max thought to herself

 **After school**

Class had let out for the day and Max had exited the school main building and began to take pictures of different students, animals, scenery, anything that caught her eye. She began to scan the area through her camera lens until they fell onto the one thing she found herself infatuated with the most, the new guy, Ken Kaneki.

Kaneki sat on a bench by himself with his nose in a book, he looked at peace being alone and reading with the cool breeze of the wind blew his combed hair into his eyesight every once and awhile, Max once again found herself unable to stop watching him, even from a distance. Snap after snap Max took pictures of the unaware teen.

"Hey, Max!" A familiar voice called out to her, breaking her out of her trance like state, Max turned towards the voice that had called out to her and was welcomed to the sight of her friend, Kate Marsh. Kate wore a tan skirt, white dress shirt, buttoned to the collar, a blue fleece sweater, and a cross necklace hanging from her neck.

"What's got you so focused that you didn't hear me?"

"What do you mean, Kate?"

"Well I called out to you four times!"

"Oh, sorry."

"So what was it that's got your attention, Max?" Kate questioned as she looked towards the direction that Max had been looking until she saw what had caught her friend's attention

"Oh… I see, Max you sly dog."

"I-It's not what you think, Kate." Max said nervously as her face began to blush

"Max, you have a crush on Kaneki!"

"N-No I don't."

"Sure, look at you, you're flustered to the the max!"

"I-I don't know, I guess I do… I don't know."

"Go talk to him, Max! I mean you two already sit together in Photography! Now go!"

With a metaphorical and literal push from Kate, Max made her way to Kaneki "Come on, Max. You've already talked to him, this is no big deal." Max thought to herself, trying to calm her brain down.

"H-Hey Kaneki."

"Oh, hey Max." Kaneki said as he looked up from his book "What's up?"

"I'm not bothering you, am I?"

"No, not at all." Kaneki said with the smile still present on his face, the smile that for some reason made Max's heart melt.

"I was wondering that since you're new here, maybe you'd like a tour of Arcadia Bay?"

"Sure, I'd actually really like that."

"Great! I mean, when would you like the tour?"

"Well, I'm free right now, if you're willing to play tour guide."

"Alright then, let's get going!"

Kaneki marked his place in his book and placed it back in his bag and followed Max to the bus stop.

"Do you always take the bus?" Kaneki asked as they awaited the bus

"Yeah, I don't really have a car, and besides I like taking the bus, it's calming just sitting there, looking at the scenery, and listening to my music."

Just then the bus arrived and the two of them got onto the bus, they made their way to some empty seats in the back and sat next to each other, once the bus began to depart Kaneki reached into his messanger bag and took out the book he had been reading earlier

"What are you reading?" Max asked, curious about the kind of books the young teen liked to read.

"Oh, it's called "The Black Goat's Egg" it's definitely my favourite book."

"What's it about?"

"Well, The story centers around the relationship between a young man and his mother, a brutal serial killer known as the "Black Goat". Though he is disgusted by his mother's cruel actions, he begins to discover the same depraved impulses exist within him as well. It focuses on graphic descriptions of violence, as well as an exploration of the protagonist's mental state."

"Wowsers, didn't think someone like you would like to read those kind of books."

Kaneki sheepishly rubbed the back of his head and let out a small chuckle "Yeah, I get that a lot. I don't know what it is about this book that draws me to it."

"Since you like those types of books you should read "Silence of The Lambs""

"That's actually on my list of books to read." kaneki said with a chuckle "So, what's our first stop going to be?"

"Well I was thinking that you'd be hungry, and so what better place to start this tour at than the Two Whales Diner, they have the best food you'll find in Arcadia Bay!" Max said with an enthusiastic smile

And then as if on queue Kaneki's stomach began to rumble "I guess I can eat." he said with an embarrassed chuckle

Soon enough the bus had arrived at their destination and they both hopped off of the bus

"Max!" A female voice called out to her as they both of them got off the bus, Kaneki seemed confused as he couldn't really tell where the voice was coming from, until Max began to walk towards the side of the diner, where they both were met to a homeless lady "How are you, Max?" The homeless lady asked

"I'm doing good, oh this is a new transfer student from Tokyo, his name is Kaneki." Max introduced kaneki

"It's nice to meet you, ma'am." Kaneki said as he bowed

"My, such manners." She said with a smile "And he's cute, looks like you've got a nice catch, Max." She said which made Max blush "Listen, Max. Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Yeah, sure. Of course. Hey Kaneki can you grab us a table? I'll be right there."

Kaneki nodded in agreement and headed inside to grab him and Max a table

"He seems nice." The homeless lady started "But he carries a lot of sadness in those eyes." She said

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not fully sure, but I can tell from his eyes, he hasn't had a great childhood, all I'm saying is be nice to the boy, he's been through a lot."

"Sure" Max said not fully understanding what she had said "Hey, are you hungry? I can grab you something on our way out."

"Oh, you're so sweet, but no thanks. I've had my dinner, you go enjoy."

"Well, I'll see you later then." Max said as she made her way into the diner, she searched for Kaneki and saw that he had grabbed a booth near the back, next to the jukebox, he sat there with the same book out.

"If you wanted to just read, you could've just said so and I would've left you on the bench to read." Max jokingly said

"Oh… Sorry." Kaneki said embarrassed as he shoved the book back into his bag which made Max chuckle

"Y'know I was just kidding, you didn't have to put it away."

"Well if it isn't Max." A female voice called out to Max

"Oh, hey Joyce."

Joyce is a middle aged woman, she has long blonde hair in a bun, and she is wearing a waitresses' outfit. "Hello there, Max. And who is this handsome young man?" Joyce asked as she looked at Kaneki

"This is Kaneki, he's a transfer student from Tokyo."

"All the way from Tokyo? Well I hope you can make yourself at home, my name's Joyce, I'm basically Max's second mother."

"She really is."Max said with a smile

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Joyce." Kaneki said in the same shy voice

"As a welcome to Arcadia Bay, order whatever y'all would like, it's on the house."

"We can't let you do that, Joyce." Max protested

"Nonsense, it's my treat, so what would you like Kaneki?" She said as she readied her pen and paper

Kaneki scanned through the menu until his eyes found the one meal that he hadn't had in a while "C-Can I have the hamburger steak."

"Of course, hon. How do you want it cooked?"

"Well done, please."

"Alright, and what about you, Max? What would you like?"

"Can I have the bacon cheeseburger, with extra bacon" Max said as he mouth began to salivate

"Alright, I'll be right out with your orders, you two."

"She's nice." Kaneki said with a smile

As silence fell between Max and Kaneki, Max couldn't help but think about what the homeless lady said "I wonder what she meant by "He carries a lot of sadness."" Max thought to herself as she studied Kaneki as he looked out the window "Hey, Kaneki."

"Yeah?"

"May I ask you a question?"

"Uhm, sure. What is it?"

"How did your parents feel about you moving out here by yourself?"

This question had caught Kaneki off guard and he had stayed silent for a while until Max had repeated the question "Oh, well they seemed okay with it." Kaneki said as he cupped his chin "I guess they just want me to get a good education, no matter where I get it from."

"Do you miss them?"

"Of course." Kaneki said still cupping his chin

"Here you go, you two." Joyce said as she dropped their orders in front of them "Hamburger steak for the adorable gentleman, and the bacon cheeseburger for the beautiful lady" Joyce said with a smile

"Thank you." The two teens said in unision

"Now you two enjoy."

Kaneki and Max ate their meals while they had conversations about various topics, from their favourite music, movies, tv shows, books, and food, until they both finished eating. After they had finished they began to walk around the town rather than taking the bus to every stop, Max showed Kaneki around the town, taking him to various hang out spots such as, the mall, movie theater, and Kaneki's favourite the bookstore, before they knew it the sun began to set and they made their way back to their dorm rooms.

Kaneki and Max stood outside the girl's dormitory, unaware that they were being eavesdropped on by Victoria, Kate, Juliet, Dana, and Brooke

"Thanks for showing me around town, Max. You definitely made my first day a fun one." Kaneki said as he gave Max a soft smile that put butterflies in her stomach

"Well thanks for letting me play tour guide." She jokingly replied

The two of them stood their in silence, neither of them knowing what to do next

"What are they doing?" Victoria said with frustration in her voice "Just kiss her!"

"Quiet, Victoria! They'll hear you!" The girls just looked on as the two awkward teens just stood there

W-Well I'll see you tomorrow." Kaneki said in his shy voice

"Y-Yeah, totally. See you."

Max then turned and head into the dormitory and the group of spying girls all let out a frustrated sigh "I can't believe we waited for 2 hours just for that." Kate said

 **Later that night**

Max laid in her bed unable to get out the words of the homeless lady "His eyes carry a lot of sadness in them." that question rattle itself inside her brain until she finally gave in to her exhaustion and fell asleep.

Max then woke up in what seemed to be her dorm, but different. She looked out the window and saw something that made her pale as a bed sheet.

The students of Blackwell Academy torn apart, limb by limb and a sole figure standing in the middle of the bloodied school ground. Max covered her mouth from the shock, the figure was dressed in black shorts, with black legging like clothing, a black short sleeve pullover sweater with four red tentacles sticking out the back, a black long shirt under the sweater, and white shoulder length hair. The figure turned towards Max's window and she couldn't believe what she saw

"Kaneki?!" She said as tears began to build up "You're a…. Ghoul?!"

Max then shot up from her bed, covered in sweat. She quickly got up from her bed and looked out the window, it was still night time, she looked at the time on her phone and it read "3:35 AM"

"What the fuck was that?"

 _ **To be continued**_


	2. Chapter II

**A/N**

 **So I plan on switching some of the names in here to Americanized names just because of where it takes place and yeah… I hope to update more often now.**

 **Chapter II: Tragedy**

It's been one month since Kaneki moved to Arcadia Bay, and in that month he has been able to find friends at Blackwell Academy. He has become quite close with Max Caulfield and has become best friends with Max's science nerd friend, Warren Graham. Slowly Kaneki has been able to get out of his comfort zone with the help of Max.

Kaneki woke up to the sound of his phone alarm and shot right up as it went off, he reached for the phone and turned off the alarm. He begrudgingly got out of bed and headed for the showers.

"Sup Kaneki!" Warren called out from across the dormitory halls, he was wearing a blue short sleeve shirt with stripes and a long green shirt under it, and blue jeans.

"Oh, hey Warren, what's up?"

"Nothing much, hey are you going to the Vortex party this weekend? It's gonna be off the chain!"

"Off the chain? Do people still say that? Anyways I don't think so, you know I'm not a party type of guy."

"Come on, dude! There's gonna be a lot of cute girls there and I don't mean to brag, but I make a pretty good wing man."

"I'll think about it, I should go take a shower before I'm late to class."

"Alright, but think about it, Kaneki!" Warren said as he made his way back into his room.

Kaneki made his way to the showers and stripped off his clothes and got in

"Maybe I should go to the party." Kaneki thought to himself as he bathed himself. Kaneki took a fast shower and headed back to his dorm room. He threw on a white dress shirt, buttoned it up to the collar, and threw on a blue striped sweater vest, and some black jeans and made his way to his first class.

"Good morning, Kaneki." Max said with a smile as he entered the photography class.

"Good morning, Max." He said returning the smile. Max wore her usual sweater and pants combo with a plain white t shirt. He took his usual seat next to Max and they made small talk as they were always the first ones in class. "Are you going to the Vortex party this weekend?" Kaneki asked Max

"I don't know. Victoria and Dana keep pushing me to go, but I'm not a party type of girl."

"Same here, w-well except for the girl part. I-I mean I'm not a party type of guy." Kaneki said as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head

Max couldn't help but chuckle at how cute it was when Kaneki would get all flustered "I get what you're saying."

Soon the rest of the students had begun to pour in and class had begun. School ended for the day and Kaneki sat at the bench that he found himself at everyday after school reading his book, although he was coming out of his shyness he still found solace in his books. He could relax on that bench reading his book and not notice that time would escape from him.

"Kaneki!" A familiar voice called out to the book worm, and he looked up from his book to see Max's smiling face.

"Oh, hey Max."

"I was wondering if you would want to head to Two Whales with me, I could really use a burger right now."

"Sure." Kaneki said with a smile

"Okay, great!"

Kaneki marked his place in the book and followed Max to the bus stop, after a few minutes the bus arrived and the two teens headed into the bus and took their seats near the back. The two sat in silence until Max spoke up

"So Kaneki, I never asked but how did you get so into reading?"

"Huh?"

"I mean, you're always reading. How did you get so into books?"

"W-Well my dad died when I was just a kid and his books were the only thing he left when he had died."

"Oh my God, I'm sorry, Kaneki. I didn't know your father died." Max said flustered

"It's okay Max, really. I grew to love books because I just felt that reading my dad's books was my way of getting to know him, and that just made me really into books." Kaneki said with a small smile.

"You know, that's actually really sweet."

Soon they had arrived at their destination and the two teens walked the rest of the way to the diner. They headed into the diner and took their seats at a booth near the back where barely anyone was.

"Hey, you two." Joyce said with a soft smile "What can I get you two?"

"The usual for me please." Kaneki said

"Alright, one hamburger steak, medium rare." Joyce said as she wrote down Kaneki's order "And what about you, Max?"

"You know, today I'm really in a steak kind of mood too."

"Alright, and how would you like it done, hone?"

"Well done please."

"Coming right up."

"This has almost become my second home." Kaneki said with a chuckle.

"I know, Joyce told me that you're here almost everyday."

"Guilty." Kaneki said as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

The door to the diner swung opened and a girl with purple hair, wearing glasses and wearing a white dress walked past the two teens and Kaneki's face grew red as he stared at the girl as she sat down across from them. Max couldn't help but notice Kaneki's sudden expression.

"Do you know that girl?"

"N-Not really, w-well actually she's the reason I come in everyday."

"Really?" Max said not being able to help but feel a bit jealous.

"Yeah, I just saw her here one day and I started coming everyday just for the chance to see her again."

"Why don't you go talk to her?"

"N-No way, I can't do that!"

"Why not?"

"B-Because… I-"

"You shouldn't be nervous, she's just a person."

"Y-Yeah but, she's the most beautiful girl I have ever seen."

Max felt a heavy pressure as she hear Kaneki say that but she tried her best not to show it. Just then a new girl with short purple hair had come by and dropped of their food "Enjoy." She said with a smile

"Thanks." The two of them replied.

The whole time Kaneki ate he couldn't take his eyes off the girl in the white dress.

"Go talk to her." Max said

"I-I can't Max."

"Yes you can, Kaneki. Trust me there's not a reason for her not to like you." Max said with a smile.

Kaneki looked over at the girl again and saw her take out a familiar book. It was The Black Goat's Egg."

"Alright, I'll go talk to her."

Kaneki got up from his seat and slowly made his way to the girl as Max watched. Max watched as Kaneki bowed and started talking to the girl, the girl smiled and nodded and Kaneki took a seat across from her and they started chatting. Joyce came over and saw Max staring at the two.

"You should just tell that boy how you feel, Max." Joyce said as she took a seat next to Max

"What do you mean?"

"Oh you know what I mean, I've known you long enough to know that you've fallen for that boy."

"W-What?"

"Don't act all surprised Max. I see the way you look at Kaneki."

"I-I guess, but it doesn't matter he likes that girl."

"Don't give up Max, you are a beautiful, smart and talented woman, Kaneki will come around." Joyce said with a smile.

"Thanks, Joyce." Max said as she returned the smile.

It had been almost an hour and Kaneki had still been sitting at the booth with the girl, Max had long finished her food and was hoping that Kaneki would grow tired of talking to the girl and go back to sitting with her, but Kaneki had sat that there chatting with the girl in the white dress, and they seemed to be enjoying each other's company as Kaneki would make her laugh and she would make him blush. Max grew tired of watching this and paid for her food and left the diner without saying a word.

Max made her way back to Blackwell and headed straight to her dorm room and laid in her bed.

"This sucks." She thought to herself. She turned on her stereo and let herself be taken by the soft music playing, she began to doze off until her phone began to rang, she picked it up and saw a call coming from Kaneki.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Max. Joyce told me you left, sorry I kind of left you at the booth."

"I-It's fine, Kaneki. So how did it go?"

"It went great! Her name is Ryann Kaliher and it turns out she loves to read!"

"Wow, sounds like a perfect match for you."

"And get this, I have a date with her this Sunday!"

"R-Really?"

"Yup, I'm going to take her to the bookstore downtown, that doesn't sound too lame, does it?"

"No, it sounds perfect."

"Great! Hey I'll talk to you later I have to catch the bus back to Blackwell."

"Okay."

Max hung up the phone and threw it at the her small sofa and laid back down in her bed, as she covered her eyes as tears began to form "Damn it."

Sunday had arrived and Kaneki was in his dorm room getting ready for his date. He put on a white dress shirt, buttoned all the way to the collar, a blue long sleeved sweater vest and brown slacks, and exited his dorm room.

"Damn, Kaneki looking fresh!" Warren said

"You don't think this makes me look nerdy do you?"

"Of course it does, but that's part of your charm, dude!"

"I just hope Ryann likes this outfit."

"I still can't believe you're taking her to a bookstore."

"What's wrong with that?! Max liked the idea!"

"Yeah, yeah. Good luck on your date and I don't want you coming home late."

"Sure thing "Dad" Anything else?"

"Wear a rubber!"

Kaneki headed out the dormitories and began to make his way to the exit of the school where he saw Max and Kate relaxing under a tree, chatting.

"Hey guys!" Kaneki said as he sat down next to Max."

"Wooah Kaneki, looking good." Kate said giving Kaneki a thumbs up "Don't you think Kaneki looks cute, Max?"

"Y-yeah, you look great, Kaneki." Max said trying her best to smile

"Thanks ,I hope Ryann thinks so too." Kaneki took out his phone and checked the time. "I'll see you guys later, I have to hurry up before I miss the bus."

"Have fun!" Kate said as Kaneki got up and left the two girls, Kate looked towards Max and she noticed how down she looked as she watched the bookworm leave. "You okay, Max?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Come on, let's go have some tea."

"No thanks Kate, I just feel like going back to my room, I'll text you later."

Max got up from the ground and made her way back to her dorm room.

Kaneki made it to the bus stop and got out his phone as he took a seat in an empty spot near the door. He saw that he had gotten a text from Ryann.

"Hey, Kaneki. I'm on my way to the bookstore!"

"Great! I just got on the bus, I'll meet you there!"

Max entered her room and turned on her light, she headed to her couch and sat down and picked up her acoustic guitar and began to play a soft tune, she continued to play until there was a knock on her door.

"Hey, Max. It's Victoria, can I come in?"

"Sure." Max stopped playing her guitar and setted to the side of her desk "What's up?"

"Oh nothing. Kate told me you seemed upset so I decided to check up on you."

"It's nothing."

"Mhm. Come on Max, I won't allow you to stay in your room and mope around." Victoria pulled Max off of her couch and the two left Max's room.

"Where are we going?"

"To the mall of course."

Kaneki and Ryann were seated at a table, Kaneki had ordered a hamburger steak and Ryann had order a simple sandwich.

"So Kaneki, what kind of books do you favour?"

"Well anything really but I have to say, Science fiction is definitely one of my favourites, what about you?"

"I think I'm more into thrillers, there's nothing better than having my heart pound and almost afraid to turn the page!"

"You know, I never would have guessed that a girl like you would be reading something like the "Black Goat's Egg"

"What do you mean "A girl like me?"

Kaneki almost choked on the water he had been drinking "O-Oh I don't mean it in a bad way, I just never pictured a girl who looked as p-pretty as you reading something so graphic."

"You think I'm pretty?" Ryann said with a shy blush

"W-Well yeah." Kaneki looked down at Ryann's plate and noticed that she had only taken a single bite "Aren't you going to eat your sandwich?"

Ryann blushed and looked away, embarrassed "T-The truth is… I'm on a diet."

"Oh, okay."

"Will you excuse me, I have to freshen up." Ryann said as she got up from her seat and left to the bathroom.

Kaneki then felt his phone ring and he took it out of his pocket "Hello?"

"So how's the date going?" Warren asked

"It's going great! We love a lot of the same books and she is such a lady."

"Well I'm happy for you dude!"

"Warren will you get off your phone!" Kaneki heard Brooke say from the background

"Sorry Kaneki, gotta go! Good luck!"

Kaneki then hung up his phone and Ryann returned from the bathroom

"How bout we head to that bookstore now?" She said with a soft smile which made Kaneki's face heat up

"Y-Yeah, of course!"

"So Max, are you going to tell me what's wrong?" Victoria said as she took a sip from her smoothie. She and Max were sitting at a table in the cafeteria at the mall that was surrounded by different types of food vendors

"It's nothing, Victoria. Really."

"It's Kaneki isn't it?"

"Huh?"

"Oh come on, Mad Max. Don't try to hide it. I see the way you look at him and the way you smile every time he says your name and that big smile you get every time he enters a room. Honestly, it's kind of crazy that he hasn't noticed it. I swear for such a smart guy, he's not very observant."

Max let out a sigh in response and took a sip of her own smoothie.

"Seriously, Max. If you really like him then you should stop beating around the bush and let him know. When I told you that I thought he'd be perfect for you I wasn't teasing… Okay I was, but I also meant it."

"Thanks Victoria, but I think he really likes that Ryann girl, and what kind of friend would I be if I tried to ruin it?"

Victoria let out a deep sigh and looked at Max as she looked down at her feet "You're hopeless, Max Caulfield."

The sun had began to set and Kaneki had offered to walk Ryann home, they walked side by side together chuckling every once and a while and Kaneki could feel his heart begin to beat faster and faster with each glance he took of the beauty walking at his side.

"So Kaneki, you're in high school?"

"Yeah, I'm a senior at Blackwell Academy."

"Blackwell Academy? Isn't that the prestigious school? My, you must be quite smart, huh?"

Kaneki let out a chuckle and sheepishly rubbed his head "I guess so."

"My house is just down this alleyway." Ryann said pointing at an empty alley "Thank you so much for agreeing to walk me home, Kaneki."

"Of course, what kind of date would I be if I had refused?"

"It's just that all these recent ghoul attacks have really shaken me up, I'm always afraid to walk home at night."

"I understand, it freaks me out too."

The two continued to walk side by side in silence until Kaneki suddenly stopped and clenched his fists as tightly as he could. "Ryann, I'd really like to see you again!"

"Huh?" Ryann said confused as she looked back at Kaneki who was standing still with his eyes closed and his fists clenched

"I-I would really like to take you out on another date… if that's okay with you."

Ryann turned towards Kaneki and took a step closer "Well… We are around the same age, and we both have similar interests." Ryann continued to get closer and closer to Kaneki as he just stood there with his eyes still shut. "And I did really have fun today, and I really enjoy your company." Ryann slowly paced towards Kaneki until she was close enough to take his hands, which caused him to open his eyes and look directly into her brown eyes, which made him blush madly.

"The truth is… I see the way you would look at me back at the diner… and honestly I look at you the same way…"

"Y-You do?"

"Yes, I want you… as much as you want me…"

Kaneki smiled as he heard that last sentence, but his smile soon faded and soon his emotions transformed from happiness to pure fear as he saw tentacles begin to form on Ryann's lower back. Kaneki then felt the sharp pain of Ryann's teeth sinking into his flesh, his eyes widened as his brain began to comprehend what was happening.

"Tasty."

Kaneki fell to the ground as blood splattered the ground, he held his shoulder in pain and looked up to see Ryann with her now dark black and red eyes looking down at him with the look of pure hunger.

"You see, Kaneki. There's something I love more than reading. Do you know what it is? It's ripping out the organs of someone who's too terrified to run away from me. Oh how I love the look on your face! What do you say, Kaneki? Will you let me have my fun?"

Ryann then unleashed her kagune that let out a red glowing pulse on the unsuspecting Kaneki, He desperately pushed off the ground and began to run as fast as he could

"This can't be happening… This can't be happening!" Kaneki said frantically as he ran and tried to put pressure on his bleeding shoulder, Kaneki then felt his leg being wrapped and fell to the ground, he looked at his leg which was now being trapped by Ryann like a boa constrictor wrapping its prey. Ryann then pulled Kaneki towards her as he let out a scream and dangled him upside down.

"You can't run from me, silly." Ryann said with the same soft smile that Kaneki had fell for.

Without any effort Ryann threw Kaneki through a wall that lead into a construction site. Kaneki used whatever strength he had left to lift himself off of the rubble that he had landed on, he limped away from the rubble as Ryann chased him down.

"I'm coming for you, Kaneki!"

Ryann leaped into the air and began to play with Kaneki like a predator playing with its prey before the kill.

Ryann stabbed Kaneki's gut with one of her tentacles and Kaneki let out a cough filled with blood.

"Wow, I've really made a mess of you, haven't I?" Ryann said as she chuckled "Uh-oh looks like you've died on me. That's too bad, I was hoping to have a little more fun with you. You've got just the right amount of fat on you, Kaneki. Your flesh is so tender and tasty."

Before Ryann could give Kaneki the killing blow wire rope that had been holding up a pile of steel beams gave in and crushed Ryann under them, Kaneki saw through blurry eyes as he slowly lost consciousness from the blood lost.

Max stood at her window, staring at the entrance of the boy's dormitories and glanced at her phone for any incoming messages.

"He's not going to text you, Max. he's on a date." Victoria said as she laid on Max's bed "Just wait till tomorrow."

Max let out a depressed sigh and sat on her couch "I guess you're right."

"Come on, Max. We're having this sleepover to get your mind off of it, and it's kind of hard when you keep looking out the window and checking your phone. Besides Kate, Juliet, and Dana will be here any minute and the real sleepover will start!"

"You're right, Victoria. I just need to get it out of my head."

"That's my girl!"

Just then a knock came from Max's door and she got up from the couch to open it.

"I managed to get some beers for tonight!" Juliet said carrying two twelve packs of alcohol

"Now it's a party!" Victoria said giving her friend a hand with the beers.

"This is going to be fun!" Kate nearly shouted in excitement

"Alright girls, tonight we are going to help Max forget about all her boy troubles."

 **The next morning**

Max woke up on the floor with Kate, and Dana, Victoria was on Max's couch and Juliet took over Max's bed. The bright light that escaped through her shades blinded her and she got up from the floor. She saw her phone flash that indicated that she had gotten a message. She hurriedly grabbed her phone hoping that the message was from Kaneki, but it happened to be from Warren.

"I'm in the emergency waiting room at the hospital in town, Kaneki was in an accident last night. He's in critical condition."

Max's heart sank as she read the message, she covered her mouth to muffle her cries to not wake her friends, but she couldn't hold back the tears.

"Max… Are you okay?" Kate asked as she saw the tears forming in Max's eyes.

"N-No… Kaneki is in the hospital."

"What?!"

"He was in an accident, Warren says he's in critical condition."

"Oh my God! We have to go!"

"What's with the racket?" Victoria asked as she slowly sat up from the floor.

"Kaneki's in the hospital!"

Max wiped away her tears and got dressed as fast as she could and nearly ran out of the dorm room.

"Hold on Max, we can take my car!" Victoria shouted as she struggled to keep up.

Max, Juliet, Kate, and Dana all piled into Victoria's four door Camaro and drove off to the hospital.

Within minutes they had arrived at the hospital and Max wasted no time rushing into the hospital

"I'm here to see Ken Kaneki!" She said to the receptionist

"Mr. Kaneki is in surgery right now, just head through those doors and the doctor will be with you with any updates on his condition." The receptionist said as she pressed a button and the doors to the emergency waiting room opened

"Thank you." Max said as she rushed through the doors

"Uh we're with her." Victoria said as she and the rest of them rushed past the receptionist desk and caught up with Max.

"Has there been any updates on his condition?" Max asked Warren as soon as she saw him sitting with Brooke

"No, nothing yet."

"Don't worry, Max. Kaneki is tougher than he looks." Brooke said trying to comfort Max.

"Yeah…"

The group of friends waited in the waiting room for what seemed like an eternity for any news involving their friend. Everyone had fallen asleep except for Max, her eyes were glued to the surgery room door waiting for the doctor to pass those doors and he finally did.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Kanou." an older man in his early 40's said

Everyone's eyes shot open as they heard the doctor speak, Max got up from the chair and almost rushed the doctor.

"How is he? Will he be okay?"

"Mr. kaneki's operation was a success." Kanou said which earned sighs of relief from the group of friends. "Lucky for Mr. Kaneki his lady from shared the same blood type and we were able to perform an emergency operation on him."

"How did you get her to agree to it?"

"Well… She was killed in the accident, we tried to get in contact with any of her family but we were unsuccessful and so I had to make a quick decision to save Mr. Kaneki's life."

Max couldn't stop herself from crying and hugging the doctor that had saved her friend's life "Thank you, Doctor. Thank you so much!"

"Of course, young lady." Kanou said with a reassuring smile.

"Can we see him?" Warren asked

"I wouldn't advise it yet. He just got out of surgery, he needs his rest. Give him the day to rest and come back tomorrow."

"Alright…"

"At least we know he's okay."

"Yeah, but that poor girl." Kate said "But thank God she was able to help Kaneki."

"Come on, Max. We'll come back tomorrow straight after class."

 **The next day**

Max sat in her photography class, she never knew how lonely she could feel until Kaneki wasn't in class. She couldn't pay attention to the Mrs. Johnson's lesson, her mind and eyes stayed on Kaneki's empty chair.

"Now class you all may or may have not heard that our fellow classmate Kaneki suffered a terrible accident and is in the hospital, I hope you can all take a moment out of your day today to send prayers to our dear friend."

Kaneki woke up and surveyed the room "How did I get to the hospital?" He thought to himself. He mustered up as much energy as he could and sat up on the hospital bed. He put his left leg out of the bed and then his right, but struggled to stand up. "What happened to me?... The last thing I remember is… Ryann." Suddenly his memories of what had happened the previous night hit him like a freight train and he fell back from the shock "She… was a ghoul… she tried to… to kill me!" He thought to himself.

One of the nurses had heard the commotion coming from his room and rushed in to see Kaneki on the floor with his hands on his head, squirming. "Mr. Kaneki! You shouldn't be out of the bed yet! Dr. Kanou!" The nurse cried out as she struggled to get Kaneki up from the ground, although Kaneki was light his weight proved to be too much for the timid nurse to handle by herself. Just then Dr. Kanou rushed into the room and assisted in getting Kaneki back into his bed "I know you may have a lot questions Mr. Kaneki."

"W-Where am I?"

"You're at Arcadia hospital. You rushed into the emergency room two days ago, do you remember anything from that night?"

Kaneki vividly remembered what had happened with Ryann that night, but he had chose to stay quiet about the whole ordeal "N-No, I can't remember a thing."

"Just lay down and try to relax, we are going to run a few tests just to make sure that everything is alright and then you can be on your way." Kanou said giving Kaneki a soft, reassuring smile.

"Thank you." Kaneki said weakly.

Dr. Kanou and the nurse left the room and Kaneki sat there in his thoughts.

School had ended for the day for Max and as soon as she got out of building she rushed to the bus stop not wanting to wait for her friends to get out of their classes. She arrived at the hospital and the receptionist directed her towards a regular patient's room "Okay, good. They moved him to another room. He's not in an intensive care room or anything, that must mean he's okay." She thought to herself. She hesitantly headed into the room number that the nurse had given her, awake, and sitting up."

"Hey, Max." Kaneki said with a smile

Max rushed at Kaneki and hugged him until he began to have trouble breathing "M-Max… I-I can't b-breathe."

She looked at Kaneki and blushed "S-Sorry." She said as she sheepishly hid her blush "I'm just so happy you're okay, Kaneki. Everyone else should be on their way, they're gonna be happy ot see you awake!"

Max took a seat next to Kaneki and took his left hand into hers "Kaneki, what happened that night?"

"I… I don't really remember." Kaneki said as he cupped his chin "Me and Ryann had snuck into the construction site and all of a sudden I lost consciousness and woke up here."

"Well I'm just glad you're okay."

Warren and Brooke showed up and then everyone else followed, they all gave Kaneki hugs and told him how glad they were that he was okay, after a while they had all left the hospital, except for Max, she hadn't left Kaneki's side, Max had fallen asleep in the seat she had taken up and was using Kaneki's hand as a pillow, Max's slumber was disturbed when Dr. Kanou knocked on the door and walked in.

"Okay, Mr. Kaneki. It seems like everything is in order, you said something was wrong with your tastebuds, correct?"

"Yeah, this morning when the nurse gave me my breakfast I couldn't stomach it at all. Everything tasted disgusting."

"Relax Mr. Kaneki, it's just a side effect from the operation, your tastebuds should return back to normal in a few days, but if that's it then you're free to go."

Max had collected Kaneki's things for him and they left the hospital.

"This fresh air feels so good." Kaneki said as he took in a big whiff of the outdoor air."

"Hey Kaneki, want to go to Two Whales? I'm sure Joyce would be happy to see that you're okay."

"Maybe another time, Max. I just really want to sleep in my own bed."

"Okay, another time."

The two of them headed back to campus and Kaneki headed to the boy's dormitories and saw a bag with a note attached to it, he grabbed the bag and note and took them inside his room.

"Hey Kaneki! I thought you could use a good hamburger steak from Two Whales after eating all that hospital food, I also got you a few snacks, enjoy! - Warren."

"Thanks, Warren." Kaneki thought to himself

Kaneki placed the bag on top of his small table and fell onto his bed and slowly fell asleep. A few hours later Kaneki woke up to the sound of his phone going off multiple times and picked up his phones and scrolled through his messages.

"Hey Kaneki how'd you like that little care package? - Warren"

"Thanks Warren, you're the best."

"I hope you're feeling better, Kaneki. - Victoria"

"Yeah, I'm beginning to feel a little better."

"Hey Kaneki, I hope you're feeling better enough to come back to class. It's lonely :( - Max"

"Not yet, but I will be back soon."

Kaneki tossed his phone to the end of his bed and turned on his tv that was playing a ghoul special. Kaneki took off his shoes and sat back down on his bed while watching the special.

"Here's what I don't understand about the attacks. There's no need for a ghoul to eat this much in such a short period of time. We know that consuming one dead body is enough to keep them alive for a month or two, let me ask you this. Why can't ghouls be satisfied eating the same food that humans do?"

Kaneki's eyes widened and he turned his attention towards the tv

"Well to put it simply, they can only derive nutrition from human flesh. Eating anything else can actually be detrimental to them. Our foods tastes disgusting to ghouls, because their tongues work differently than ours do."

"N-No…." Kaneki whimpered to himself, he rushed for the bag and took out a bag of chips. He ripped them open and shoved a handful of chips into his mouth, he chewed but couldn't swallow and rushed to the bathroom and vomited it out, he rushed back to his room and took out a box of twinkies and ripped those open and shoved them in his mouth but vomited those up as well, one by one Kaneki went through each of the snacks that Warren had fit into the bag and one by one he had vomited it all back out as the taste of rotten cheese and spoiled milk filled his throat as he force swallowed the snacks. He took out the last thing that remained in the bag, Kaneki's favourite dish, the hamburger steak. He took it out of the box and took a bite, and stood quietly as a tear ran down his cheek. He dropped the steak to the ground and he slowly slumped to the floor "Why…. Why me…"

Max had called Kaneki's phone several times but each of those times she received no answer, only his automated voice mail.

"I'm sure he's still sleeping, he must be exhausted." Victoria said trying to cheer up her friend.

"You're probably right."

Kaneki looked at the missed calls he had received from Max as he laid under his sheets and sighed "Sorry, Max."

As soon as the sun had began to set and there were no more students outside of their dorms Kaneki threw on his green hoodie and decided to go for a walk to clear his head. Kaneki had heard that the author of "The Black Goat's Egg" Was doing a signing at the local bookstore that he had taken Ryann that fateful night and thought that it would help him clear his mind to see his favourite author. As Kaneki arrived at the signing he saw a sign outside of the bookstore that read "Takatsuki Sen book signing is now over"

"Figures." Kaneki said as he let out an exhausted sigh. He turned to head back to his dorm but found in town, where it was surprisingly lively. Kaneki's stomach began to gurgle as the smell of fresh meat began to fill his lungs as people walked past him.

"People. People. People. People. People. Children. People. People. People. Women. Flesh. Girl. Flesh. Man. Flesh. Family. Flesh. Children. Flesh. Girl. Flesh. Woman. Flesh. Boy. Flesh. Man. Flesh. People. Flesh. Flesh. Flesh. Flesh. Flesh. Flesh. Flesh!

Kaneki found himself drooling at the sight of people as if they were meat on a grill, he couldn't take it anymore and ran back to the school. He opened the door to the main building and rushed to the bathroom, he looked himself in the mirror and saw that his left eye was red and black, like ghouls. He let out a scream muffled by his tears and ran to the kitchen, he grabbed the biggest kitchen knife he could find and lifted up his shirt and sweater.

"I know what's causing this! The transplant they did! Normal blades can't cut through a ghoul's flesh. Let's see. If that's true and I'm a ghoul, this won't hurt!" Kaneki lifted up the knife and jammed the blade to his chest. Kaneki fell to the ground and the kitchen knife had broke, leaving not even a mark on Kaneki's body.

"No…." Kaneki thought to himself as he laid on the cold cement ground unable to hold back his tears. "What am I supposed to do now?"

Kaneki got up from the ground the headed back outside the campus. He look towards Max's window and walked towards the exit. Kaneki had wandered for an hour until his stomach began to gurgle again as the hunger began to return.

"Kill a person." He thought to himself, the ghoul in him fighting for control as his left eye becan black and red "Take their flesh and eat it!" His eye returned to normal as he fought his ghoul urges "What has gotten into me? What am I saying?"

The smell of meat began to fill the air again, making Kaneki's hunger go rabid "What is that scent? I've never smelled it before, but there's something familiar about it. It's got a sweet aroma to it." The smell proved to be too much for Kaneki to handle and he began to run towards the smell "It smells like my mom's home cooking. Who cares what it is! I've finally found something I can eat!" Kaneki's hunger took total control and Kaneki rushed towards where the scent was coming from "Where is it! Where is it!" Kaneki finally found where the smell had been coming from and when Kaneki saw what the delicious smell had come from he fell to his knees in horror. The smell that had reminded him of his mother's cooking was resonating off of a lifeless body that laid in front of Kaneki as a ghoul fed off of it in an empty alleyway shrouded in shadow.

"Hey Kid… Are you alright?" The ghoul asked noticing that Kaneki was crying. "You're a ghoul, aren't you? Don't cry, it's okay. I'm Kevin, I haven't eaten in a while so I'm afraid I can't share much with you, but here you can have this." The friendly ghoul said offering Kaneki an arm. Kaneki looked at the dismembered arm and fought the urge to snatch the arm and eat it whole.

And then in a blink of an eye the ghoul, Kevin's head was kicked off his body and the bodiless head made its way to Kaneki's feet. Kaneki looked up in terror and saw a ghoul that looked to be around his age, he had orange hair and wore light green glasses.

"Good riddance." The young ghoul said as he adjusted his glasses. "You should know better than to trespass on my feeding grounds." The young ghoul looked at Kaneki and gave him a confused looked "I've never seen you before. Whoa, how come only one of your eyes is red? That looks pretty nasty."

The young ghoul grabs Kaneki by the neck, picks him up and pins him to the wall. "Did you think you could hunt for food on my feeding grounds and get away with it?"

"N-No… I-I didn't do it, look I swear… I just h-happened to be passing by."

"You think I believe that? Imagine this, Your girlfriend is naked and laying on the ground, a guy is standing over her with his pants around his ankles and he says "I didn't do it! I swear! I was just passing by!" That's basically the same as what you're telling me right now. If someone did that to my girl, I'd kill him. So that's what I'm going to do to you. If you trespass on my turf, you die."

"This isn't your turf!" A familiar voice called out as a female jumped from one of the nearby roofs and landed in front of the two. Kaneki look towards the young female and recognized her as the girl from Two Whales "Which means he isn't trespassing, Noel, so let him go."

"Tanya."

Noel lets go of Kaneki and he falls to ground, gasping for air.

"I don't see what the problem is. I know that binge eating bitch is dead."

"How does that make this your feeding ground? You don't have any say in how the territory that Ryann stole gets distributed among the weaker ghouls, just leave it up to us at Two Whales." Tanya said as her eyes go red and black.

"You know, I still don't understand why we've gotta run every little thing by a bunch of fence-sitters like you guys at Two Whales! I'm just reclaiming what's mine." Noel said as his eyes turned red and black

"Yeah, because you were weak."

"I don't like being insulted by a smart mouth little kid. Watch it, you're starting to piss me off."

"Think I'm scared?"

The two ghouls rush at each other, but Tanya was quicker, and sends Noel skidding across with a scratch on his face.

"Is that all you've got, Tanya?" He said wiping the blood off his cheek.

"Wait for it."

Just then several cuts appear all over Noel and he winces in pain

"Should I go harder next time?"

Noel turns and runs out of the alleyway.

"You don't want to take your corpse with you?"

Tanya turns towards Kaneki and sees him trying to reach out to the lifeless body, Tanya bends over and picks up the dismembered hand that was offered to him before. "Do you want this?"

Kaneki begins to stretch out his hand but stops himself from grabbing it.

"You're not eating?" Kaneki looks up at Touka and she notices that only his left eye is black and red "Oh wow, only one of your eyes has changed, that's crazy. Wait a minute… Aren't you that guy who was talking to Joyce? And didn't you go out with Ryann? Why didn't she eat you? And what's with your eye?"

"P-Please Miss… You have to help me!" Kaneki said through his tears "I know you may find this hard to believe but I'm actually a human, and yet I wanna eat that." Kaneki then starts to reach out for the dismembered hand as drool begins to form in his mouth but he stops himself, once again "Part of me wants to shove that in my mouth, but I know I can't. Cause if I do, I won't be a human!"

"If you're in that much pain, then just eat it."

Kaneki reaches out for the meal, but clenches his hand and slaps it out of Tanya's hand."NO WAY! NO WAY! NO WAY! NO WAY! NO WAY! There's no way I could ever eat another person's flesh! I can't be a ghoul. Not if this is what it's like. I've never even hurt a fly, so how am I supposed to fight? And I have to kill to eat?! Well I won't! Cause I'm a human!"

"This is ridiculous, why don't you just give in already?" Tanya walks back to the lifeless body and rips off a piece of the flesh "If you don't have the nerve to eat it on your own. Then let me give you a hand!" Tanya rushes at Kaneki with the human flesh in hand and shoves it down his throat, forcing him to swallow it.

 _ **To be continued...**_


	3. Chapter III

**Chapter III: Human**

Kaneki fell to the ground as he did his best to cough up the human hand "H-How could you do that!?" Kaneki shouted as tears fell from his ghoul and human eyes

"Look." Tanya said giving Kaneki a cold stare. "If you're THAT hungry then I don't see why you won't eat."

"NO WAY! NO WAY! NO WAY! I'M A HUMAN! I'M NOT LIKE YOU MONSTERS! I COULD NEVER KILL ANOTHER PERSON, LET ALONE EAT THEM! IF THIS WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A GHOUL THEN I'D RATHER DIE! I'M NOT LIKE YOU, I CAN'T JUST KILL SOMEONE JUST TO SURVIVE! I'M A HUMAN!" Kaneki dropped to the ground, his arms holding him up "I-In one day, my life has been flipped upside down…"

Tanya kicked Kaneki to the ground and forcefully placed her foot onto his neck, making him gasp between breaths. "So I'm a monster? What does that make you?" Tanya said in a calm rage with her foot still causing trouble for Kaneki's breathing. "Cause you sure as hell aren't human! You say your world was turned upside down? I guess that means my whole life sucks!"

"That's enough, Tanya. I'm sure the boy has had enough." A soft, calm voice said from the shadows of the alleyways. "Leave him be." The mysterious voice came from the shadows,, revealing an older man in his late 50's, with greying hair and wearing a dress shirt and tie.

"M-Manager, what are you doing here?"

"I heard there was a certain ghoul causing trouble around here, so I came to have a look." The man walked towards Kaneki and offered him a hand, Kaneki grabbed his hand and got up from the ground. "Are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah, i'm fine." Kaneki said with his saddened voice.

The man reaches for something inside of his pocket and brings out a package wrapped in brown paper and hands it to Kaneki.

"What's this?"

"If you're ever feeling hungry, stop by the Two Whales and I'll give you some more."

"What! You mean you're going to help this punk?!"

"Of course, we take care of our own, no matter what."

Tanya lets out an annoyed tsk and looked away.

"Now, why don't you go home and eat that, then get some rest. It looks like you could use it." The older man said while giving Kaneki a soft smile.

"Th-Thank you, s-sir." Kaneki said with a bow and walked away from the scene.

"I don't see why you're helping that pathetic excuse of a ghoul."

The man let out a sigh and rested a hand on Tanya's shoulder "Have you heard about that young man in the news that had organs transplanted from a young woman?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"I believe that young man was him." He said as he watched Kaneki walk away "And I believe the young woman was…"

"Ryann…"

"Yes. He was thrown into this life, just like that. Imagine being in his shoes. Your whole life living one way, and having it all taken away from you in one day." He said while watching Kaneki's silhouette disappear in the darkness of the alleyway.

Max looked out her window with worried eyes. "Where did Kaneki go so late?" She asked no one. Just then she saw Kaneki walk onto the campus, limping as if he were hurt. Without thinking twice she grabbed her sweater and ran out there to meet her friend.

"Kaneki!" Max shouted to grab the young man's attention.

"Kaneki hid the brown package in his sweater and turned towards the photographer "H-Hey Max, what are you doing out here?"

"I could ask you the same thing, Kaneki. I saw you leave two hours ago and it got me worried."

"Why would you get worried?"

Max's face began to heat up as Kaneki asked her that question "W-Well I noticed that you were acting weird… And of course I would worry about you!"

"S-Sorry for worrying you, Max. But seriously, you don't have to worry about me, I'm just recovering from the surgery."

"W-Will you be in class tomorrow?"

"I'll try." Kaneki said as he cupped his chin and looked away from the red faced teen. "You should get back to your dorm, Max. before we both get in trouble."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm just gonna sit out here for awhile , the air is nice tonight."

"Okay." Max said with a saddened voice "Please be careful, okay?"

"Of course."

With that Max reluctantly went back to her dorm room and left Kaneki alone with his thoughts. As soon as Kaneki saw that Max had headed back into the girl's dormitory, he took a seat on a bench that faced away from the buildings and towards the street. Kaneki took out the brown package with shaking hands and slowly began to unwrap the package, revealing a piece of raw meat. Kaneki gulped as his mouth began to salivate at the sight of something edible to the hungry half ghoul.

"No…." He thought to himself as he closed the package back up "I-I can't… I-I'm human!" With trembling sweat filled hands he tossed the package into a nearby garbage can as his stomach began to rumble "I'M A HUMAN!"

Kaneki made his way back to his dorm and stripped off his clothes until he was only in his boxers and laid in his bed until the hunger died over and his exhaustion took over and he eventually fell asleep.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK "WAKE UP KANEKI!" A loud familiar voice called out to Kaneki causing him to shoot right up in his bed, his hunger had died over for now, leaving his stomach feeling content.

"Give me a minute!" Kaneki said as he got up and threw on a shirt and opened the door to Warren, who wore a grin on his face.

"Go take a shower and get your ass ready!"

"Warren, you know I'm still getting over the surgery."

"I know, dude. Which is why you need to get out! So hurry up and get ready, and I'm not taking no for an answer!"

Kaneki let out a deep sigh in defeat and looked at the still grinning Warren "Fine, give me 10 minutes to shower and get dressed."

"Excellent!" Warren said as he began to walk out of the male dormitories "We can't keep the girls waiting!"

"Wait… Girls?" Kaneki shouted, but Warren had already left the building "Great…" Kaneki said to himself as he grabbed his shampoo and body wash. Kaneki walked into the showers and lifted his shirt, the scar caused by the surgery had completely healed, without leaving a single scar.

Warren walked out of the dormitories and walked towards Max and Brooke who had been sitting ontop of is retro car, waiting for Kaneki and him "See, Max, I told you I'd be able to get him to join us."

"So he's coming?" Max said trying to hide the fact that she had a giant smile on her face

"Yup, your boyfriend is just taking a quick shower."

"He's not my boyfriend."

"Yet…" Brooke said with a sly smile "After today he's going to be all yours."

"I-I don't know, about that."

"I do, Max." Brooke said still smiling.

After a few minutes of waiting Kaneki walked towards the group of friends that had been waiting on him. Kaneki smiled the best he could, but he found it difficult to hide his tired eyes.

"Damn, Kaneki. You look like a zombie!" Brooke commented, which caught Kaneki off guard, he played it off with a small chuckle and sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

"So what's going on? Warren didn't really fill me in on what's happening."

"Well, Kaneki, this is a double date!"

Just the notion of a sort of date was enough to make the two quiet teens of the group turn crimson red as they exchanged quick looks with quick, dotting eyes.

"It's not a "double date" Kaneki." Max said trying to make the situation less awkward. "Wh-Where just hanging out."

"Yeah, Kaneki. Come on, dude! It'll be fun!" Warren added as he enthusiastically hopped into his car with the rest of the teens following suit.

"So, where are we headed?" Kaneki questioned, still not quite sure what was going on.

"Well first off, we gotta get some grub!" Warren exclaimed while rubbing his belly

"Then the mall!" Brooke added. So the group of teens headed off to start their "double date" with Max and Kaneki in the back and Brooke riding shotgun. The ride was filled with Warren's taste of Alternative music and Max trying to start a conversation with Kaneki.

"So, Kaneki. How are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling a lot better than before." Kaneki replied as he cupped his chin "I think I should be rested enough to head back to class starting next week."

"Great!" Max almost shouted "I-I mean it's great that you won't be missing anymore class, and you won't fall behind." Max said trying to make her eager sounding voice less eager.

"Hey, Max?"

"Yeah, kaneki?"

"Since I've missed two weeks of school I was wondering if maybe you'd help me out? I-I mean if you don't mind."

"Of course! I don't mind at all!"

"Great!" Kaneki said with his usual smile, the same smile that had helped Max fall in love with him, the same smile that she had not seen since the accident. The sight of that same smile comforted her, and made everything seemed brighter.

"Alright, we're here! Now let's get our grub on!" Warren said as he parked his car in the near empty parking lot next to Two Whales and headed inside.

Kaneki looked around the diner and noticed the purple haired girl that had helped him the other day and also the older gentleman that had given him the piece of meat. The older man noticed the glance that Kaneki had aimed his way and returned it with a soft smile.

"Is everyone who works her a ghoul?" Kaneki thought to himself "Impossible, Joyce isn't a ghoul… Does she know about the manager and Tanya?"

Kaneki followed the rest of his friends to a booth and a few minutes later Joyce walked up to the group with her pad and pen in hand.

"Hey, guys." Joyce greeted the friends with a smile

"Hey Joyce!" The four teens replied in unison

"So what'll it be today?"

As his friends ordered their food Kaneki just sat there, thinking to himself. He was hungry and he knew he was, but he couldn't eat anything from the menu "I can try." He thought to himself "M-Maybe it was just my body getting used to the organs, maybe I can eat regular food." No matter how many times he thought that he knew it wasn't true, he knew that "Normal food" to him was human flesh now.

"Kaneki, Kaneki. Kaneki." Max repeated trying to get his attention, Kaneki broke out of his trance and faced the teen that had been calling out to him

"Yes?" He said in a monotone, tired, voice.

"You're up to order."

"O-Oh sorry."

Kaneki looked through the menu as if he were trying to make a decision and decided to just have a cup of coffee.

"Coming right up." Joyce said with a smile as she collected everyone's menu "So what are y'all up to, this lovely evening?"

"We are on a double date, isn't that right, Max?"

"N-No it's nothing like that. We're just hanging out."

"Sure you are, Max." Joyce teasingly said as she winked and walked away

"Really Brooke?"

"Oh come, Max. It was a joke. Hey, Kaneki."  
"Yes?"

"You do know Max was hoping that this was a date, right?"  
"Brooke!"

"I kid Kid… Or do I?"

"Warren, control your girlfriend."

"Not even gonna try." Warren said with a chuckle "Come on Kaneki, let's go see what's on the jukebox."

Kaneki and Warren got up from the booth and headed to the Jukebox, Warren inserted a coin and began looking through the selection of music "Sorry if Brooke is making you feel uncomfortable." Warren said, sounding apologetic.

"It's okay, I know she likes to kid around."

"But you know she wasn't lying."

"About?"

"Max hoping this was a date."

"Really?"

"Dude, do you really not notice it?"

"Notice what?"

"THe way she looks at you? How cheesy she gets every time you compliment her?"

"I-I guess I haven't."

"Be straight with me, dude. Do you like Max?"

"I-I don't know… I mean after all that has happened I don't really know…"

"All I'm saying is… Do me a favour and don't hurt her… Okay?"

"I couldn't hurt her if I tried, Warren.. And I wouldn't try either."

"It's just that she's been through a lot these past couple of months. I know she doesn't show it, but she's still sad about what happened."

"What happened?" Kaneki asked, now curious.

"It's not really my story to tell, if you want to know, you should ask her yourself."

Warren finally made a selection and the two friends went back to the booth, just in time for Joyce to bring the food. Joyce set the plates of food onto the table and soon realized she had forgotten about Kaneki's coffee.

"Hey, Kaneki. Do you mind coming up to the counter to get your cup of coffee? I forgot the damn thing."

"Not at all, Joyce."

Kaneki followed Joyce to the counter and she placed a single cup of coffee onto the counter top and before Kaneki could grab it, she dropped two brown cubes into the cup.

"Uhm, what did you put in my drink?" Kaneki questioned looking into the cup and taking a whiff.

"It's a special sugar cube the manager made for you, it should subdue your hunger for a while."

"Wait… So you know?"

"Of course I know, Kaneki." Joyce then places a bag of brown sugar cubes into Kaneki's hand "Now remember, this only subdues your hunger it isn't meant to be a full replacement."

"Thanks, Joyce… but, what's in it?"

"Trust me, you don't want to know."

Kaneki let out a small gulp and went back to the booth.

"You sure you're not hungry, Kaneki?" Max asked as she watched him take a sip of the coffee.

"Yeah, I'm sure."

"Max took the burger she had ordered and split it in half." Her she said as she put it on a large enough napkin and handed it to Kaneki. "You should eat, you look like you haven't eaten in days."

"I'm fine, Max. Really." He said and this time meaning it. Joyce was right, the special made sugar cubes didn't completely satisfy his hunger, but it did take the edge off of him, even if it was only for a while.

The day came and gone as they finished their "double date" and headed back to the dorms.

"We'll catch you guys later, me and Warren are gonna finish this date in my room." Brooke said with a wink.

The couple left the two quiet teens to themselves

"You know, for two of the smartest kids at Blackwell they are very horny." Max said watching them walk back to the girl's dorms..

Kaneki chuckled at her comment and took a seat on a bench nearby.

"Hey, Kaneki?"

"Yeah?"

"Is it okay if I stay in your room, just until they're done, they're kinda loud."

Kaneki once again chuckled and nodded and the two of them headed back to Kaneki's room. Kaneki flipped the light switch and fell onto the small sofa he had brought with him, and Max took a seat next to him.

"So this is your room?"

A silence fell between them for a while until Kaneki had remembered his talk with Warren at the diner.

"Hey, Max. May I ask you a quesiton?"

'Sure."

"Warren said something bad had happened to you, what was it?"

Max's face grew with sorrow and Kaneki began to realize it was a mistake to ask.

"Y-You don't have to answer, really. I'm sorry for asking."

"No, it's fine. I'll tell you…" Max fell to the floor and Kaneki had followed "It was a couple of months ago, there was a teacher at Blackwell named Mark Jefferson, I idolized him. He was great…. But he turned out to be a ghoul…"

"A…. ghoul?!"

"Yes… He was using his position as a teacher to lure students and he managed to kill two… Rachel Amber… and…" Max fell silent and every time she tried to speak her words came out choked as if she were holding back tears.

"Max? Are you alright?"

Max looked up at him and Kaneki noticed that tears had begun to form, she couldn't help but hug him and he returned it, knowing the ever too familiar face of sadness. The two sat there in silence, holding each other until Max pushed away slowly and looked up at his face.

"Max…" Kaneki said in a low voice.

They both inched closer and closer until their lips met. Kaneki cupped Max's face and he could taste the salted tears.

"Please…" Max began after breaking the kiss "Please don't leave me…"

"I won't…"


	4. UPDATE

**UPDATE**

 **I apologize that there hasn't been any updates or new chapters in a while I just wanted to give some kind of update for everyone still interested in this story. For a while I did lose interest in continuing with this story, but after watching Tokyo Ghoul: RE and replaying LiS I feel motivated to continue this story. With that said I am going to start chapter IV and I hope to have it on here by the end of this week. Thank you, everyone for still being interested in this story and I will truly try to update this story at least every other week.**


	5. Chapter IV

**A/N Sorry if this chapter is a bit short. I haven't written in a while and wanted to get all the rust out with a short chapter.**

 **Chapter IV: Familiar faces pt.1**

"Rank 1 investigator, Kyle Ackers and 1st class Investigator, Konnor Matthews." Captain David Madsen read off of several sheets of paper lying on his desk. "Why the hell are the higher ups sending these two down here?" He thought to himself. Just then the phone on his desk began to rang.

"Hello?"

"Excuse me, sir. The two Investigators from headquarters have arrived and are making their way up to you."  
"Thank you, Kathy." David sighed as he hung up and let out a deep sigh. "I really do not need this right now." from the distance the sound of elevator doors opened and footsteps followed, making their way to David's office.

"May we come in?" A rather young sounding male voice said behind the shut door as they knocked.

"Yes, come in."

The door slowly opened and two men walked in. One of the men appeared to be in his mid 20's and sported short black hair, the other was an older gentleman who sported long white hair and one of his eyes were nearly shut while the other was wide opened, but both men wore similar suits with trench coats over them and both men carried metal suitcases.

"Are you CCG Captain David Madsen?" The younger of the two asked.

"Indeed I am and you two must be Investigators Ackers and Matthews."

"Rank 1 Investigator, Kyle Ackers." The young Investigator said as he shook David's hand. "And this is my superior 1st class Investigator Konnor Matthews." Kyle said motioning towards the older man.

"It's a pleasure." Konnor said with a grin.

"Please take a seat, gentlemen." David said as he motioned towards the two chairs behind the Investigators in which they obliged. "Listen." David started as he leaned forward and cupped his hands on his desk "I don't know what the higher ups back at headquarters think is going on here, but I assure you it's nothing that my men can't handle." He said with a determined voice.

"Headquarters have received intel that these three ghouls may have become active in your ward, Captain Madsen." Konnor said as he reached into his coat and brought out 3 vanilla folders, each labeled; Binge Eater (S Rating), Gourmet (S Rating), Jason (S Rating) "While I don't doubt the abilities of the men under your command I do believe that having a bit of help with dangerous ghouls like these three could not hurt."

"And what kind of intel has headquarters received exactly?"

Konnor then took out several photos from each of the vanilla folders and spread them onto Madsen's desk. "Over the past few months there have been an increase of ghoul related deaths. Correct?" Madsen nodded "And amongst this growing number more than half have been male, on the younger side, correct?" Madsen again nodded. "Several victims have been either tortured or specific organs removed from their bodies. Am I correct in these assumptions?"

"Yes, you are correct, Mr. Matthews."

"Then, seeing that all of my correct assumptions are all of the aforementioned ghouls then I believe it's safe to assume that we are indeed after these S rated ghouls. Wouldn't you agree, Captain Madsen?"

"Yes… I would agree that that is a safe assumption."

"Excellent!" Matthews shouted as he nearly jumped from his seat and began collecting the papers he had spread out "I can assure you Captain that we are not here to take over, we are simply here to help keep your men alive and to kill those ghouls. With that said I'm sure you wouldn't mind us occupying one of the empty offices, would you?"

"Not at all."

"Perfect! Now would you mind bringing us all the files you have on any ghoul related deaths starting from October to the most recent incident. We'll be in our office waiting for those files, and remember, Captain. Time is of the essence."

After gathering all the pictures and reports Matthews walked out of David's office in which Ackers soon followed suit.

"Not trying to take over my ass." David said vexed as he picked up his phone.

"How can I help you, Captain?" Kathy asked

"Kathy, can you please have any files we have on recent ghoul attacks sent to the Investigators from Headquarters."

"Yes, sir."

"Thank you, Kathy." He said as he hung up his phone. "I need a drink." 

Kyle and Konnor took all of their belongings and settled in an unused office space. The office space was about the same size as David's and decorated with a single desk and 2 chairs.

"A bit small for comfort, but I suppose this will do." Konnor said as he place the files on the desk and his desk on the floor. "Now tell me, Kyle. What kind of impression does the Captain give you?"

"He seems like he'll do everything in his power to help us with our cases, even though it might bother him that he'll have to follow our orders." Kyle replied as he took the empty seat and set his suitcase down.

"Indeed, I believe that's a good assessment of the Captain, but I do believe that this visit will prove to be very valuable. We might even leave this town with new quinques."

 **Blackwell Academy**

Kaneki woke up to the sounds of the early birds chirping outside his window. He slowly opened his eyes to adjust to the sunlight and felt a pressure on his chest. His attention was turned towards the pressure on his chest and couldn't help but smile at the sight of a still sleeping Max using his chest as a pillow. The two of them had fallen asleep in each other's arms after the kiss they had shared. He planted a kiss on Max's head and slowly adjusted her off of his chest, so that he would not wake the young photographer. He grabbed his phone from his bed and checked the time. 6:30 am. It was Sunday so he still had one more day left to rest before he had to return to class.

"Hey, Max." Kaneki said softly as he delicately shook Max's shoulder.

"Morning, Kaneki." She said drowsily.

"Good morning." He replied with a soft smile. "I know you might be comfortable on the floor, but the bed is a bit softer."

Max got up from the floor and removed her shoes and sweater and laid on Kaneki's bed. "You're gonna lay with me, right?" She said with a smile as she pulled him by his hand till he laid next to her. Kaneki took her in his arms and stared at her as she quickly fell back to sleep.

"How did I never notice how beautiful she is?" He thought to himself as he caressed her hair. He planted a kiss on her forehead and soon began to fall back to sleep as well.

A sudden knock on Kaneki's door woke the sleeping teens who immediately shot up.

"Who is it?" Kaneki asked not wanting to leave his bed.

"It's your bestfriend, Warren!" Warren answered from the other side of the door.

"And Brooke!" Brooke shouted right after.

"Can I help you two?"

"Weeeeeelllllll" Brooke started in a high pitch voice "I couldn't help but notice that a certain Max Caulfield failed to return to her dorm last night, you wouldn't know anything about that would you, Kaneki?"

"Busted." Max said still resting her head on Kaneki's chest.

Kaneki begrudgingly got up from his bed and opened the door, which as soon as he did the two teens were bombarded with awes from their two friends and a sudden flash from a camera.

"Really?" Max questioned as she looked at Brooke who was shaking the photo she had just taken.

"What? We have to remember this moment, Max."

"Sorry, Max, but I have to borrow Kaneki today." Warren said with a smile

"For what?" Kaneki asked giving Warren a confused look.

"Well since you've been out of school I've actually joined a club."

"You joined a club?"

"Yeah, the science club."

"Okay, that makes sense."

"The club is led by this really cool dude, but he doesn't live on campus so I have to make a trip to his house to pick up some notes on a little project we've been working on and I wouldn't mind a little company." Warren said "Besides-" He started as he put his arm around Kaneki's shoulders "You could give me all the details on this little encounter." Warren said with a grin.

Kaneki reluctantly gave in and threw on a beige coat. "Hey, Max. You can stay in my dorm if you want." He said while he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head "I don't mind."

Max smiled as she threw her sweater back "It's okay, besides I feel like Brooke is about to put me through the same questioning that Warren is about to put you through."

"Oh, you already know, Max!" Brooke responded.

"But I'll see you later?"

"O-Of course!"

The two teens said goodbye as they awkwardly gave each other a kiss "You two are just the cutest." Warren said teasingly as he watched the awkward display of newfound love.

"Oh, shut up." Kaneki said as he pushed Warren. "So does this guy live far from campus?"

"No, not at all. We can actually walk there if you want."

"Sure, why not. It's a nice day today."

As the two friends began to walk towards their destination Warren began to rain down a bunch of different questions on Kaneki.

"Sooooo how was the kiss?"  
"Th-the kiss?"

"Yes the kiss! I mean you did say you guys kissed last night, right?"

"Yeah, we did."  
"And? How was it?"  
"It was…. Nice."

"That's it? Just nice?"  
"Well it was."

"You're no fun, Kaneki. I was expecting juicier details, man!"

"All we did was kiss that one time and we sort of just fell asleep."

"Wow you guys are lame."

After 10 more minutes of questions the two of them arrived at a 2 floor house that stood in front of the Arcadia bay. Warren walked up to the door an knocked.

"He lives here by himself?"  
"Yup, pretty cool, right?"  
"Yeah, it is. But how can he afford a nice house like this, isn't he a student?"

"As long as he keeps his grades up his parents basically pay off all of his bills and they send him spending money."

"Wow.. so is he like some kind of genius?"  
"He's the only dude in school that has the same gpa as me and that's saying alot." After not receiving an answer at the door Warren knocked again, but again received no answer.

"Maybe he's not home?"  
"He told me he'd be here."  
"Maybe we should just tryin later then."  
"No need, I know where he keeps an extra key." Warren goes around back of the house and removes a spare key from under the flower pot. "And walla!"

The two of them head back to the front of the house and open the front door. Kaneki follows Warren as he walks up the stairs and the sound of loud Rock music begins to fill their ears as they reach the top of the stairs.

"No wonder he couldn't hear me knocking!" Warren leads them to the room at the end of the hallway and opens it.

The Rock music is suddenly drowned out by the sound of a teen girl screaming as she pulls her shirt close and runs pass Kaneki and Warren.

"Whoops." Warren said as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head "Sorry about that, Karen!" He shouted down at the girl ,but she had already ran out of the house.

"What the hell, Warren?" A rather familiar voice said as they turned off the rock music "What did I say about knocking?"  
"Dude, I did knock. You just couldn't hear me because of that music."

"Why does that voice sound familiar?" Kaneki thought to himself not being able to see Warren's friend from the hallway.

"Nothing pisses me off more than people disrespecting my turf."

A sudden chill ran up Kaneki's spine as he realised why that voice felt familiar to him "I-It can't be…." He thought to himself nearly frozen in fear.

"Oh, dude. This is my friend, Kaneki. The one I told you about." Warren said as he made room for Kaneki to enter. "Kaneki this is Noel, he's the captain of our Science club."

Kaneki felt a cold sweat fall from his forehead as Noel pushed up his glasses and gave Kaneki a devilish grin

"Nice to meet you… Kaneki."  
 _ **To Be continued….**_


End file.
